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Double the panto fun as Rowntree Players merge Robin Hood and Babes In The Wood UPDATED with Howard Ella interview 28/11

Hannah King’s Robin Hood in Rowntree Players’ Babes In The Wood

ROWNTREE Players’ rollicking romp of a pantomime, Babes In The Wood, will roll two shows into one at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, from December 3 to 10.

Let writer-director Howard Ella explain: “We’re combining the stories of Robin Hood and Babes In The Wood. Two tales in one means there’s a lot for me to play with.

“Our beautifully hand-crafted panto promises fun from start to finish with traditional characters intertwined with a modern twist. There’ll be lots of fun for the whole family with the traditional slapstick routines, audience participation and of course, a love story: everything you would expect and want from a pantomime.”

Hannah King’s Robin Hood and Marie-Louise Surgenor’s Maid Marion

Facing the challenge of writing a new panto script for each winter, Howard says: “It takes a lot of head scratching to keep an element of freshness and originality around the traditional stories and the old – but lovingly recycled – jokes.

“The constant drive and annual re-invigoration come from bringing a talented and enthusiastic team together on and off stage.”

As always, Rowntree Players promise adventurous showstopper dance numbers to “have you dancing until Christmas”, having produced dazzling routines over the years showcasing York’s dancing talent.

Cast members in rehearsal for a dance routine in Babes In The Wood

Choreographer Ami Carter says: “It’s hard to pick just one number to be my favourite routine, because there are always moments from all the routines over the years that stick out in my mind – usually because it was a crazy idea that ended up working out really well – such as making a ship from people in Sinbad or having a troupe of dancers emerge from a fireplace in Cinderella.

“So far this year, I think my favourite is ‘Musical’, simply because I love the effect of all those musical references happening one after the other. The audience are in for a real treat with this seven-minute number.”

Howard has chosen very ambitious numbers for this year’s cast to sing, but that comes naturally for newly married musical director Jessica Viner (nee Douglas), who is a regular MD on York’s musical theatre circuit and also teaches and inspires the city’s next generation of musicians.

Double act at the ready: Graham Smith’s Dame Harmony Humperdinck and Gemma McDonald’s Kurt Jester

“I’m super-fortunate that my hobby and job are all rolled up into one as a freelance MD and pit musician,” she says. “As part of that, I teach at York Stage School and I’m also a peripatetic instrumental teacher at a school in Harrogate.”

For Babes In The Wood, Rowntree Players will be utilising a nine-piece band. “They are all so talented, so audiences are in for a real treat,” says Jessica.

Hannah King’s Robin Hood will be joined by a Merry Band of Meg Badrick, Keelie Newbold, Erin Willis, Charla Banks, Libby Roe, Mollie Surgenor and Eva Howe as they take on Jamie McKeller’s Sheriff of Nottingham and his all-too-regular tax hikes with his sidekick, Joe Marucci’s Will Snatchall.

Piling on the pain: Jamie McKeller’s Sheriff of Nottingham, right, and his sidekick in tax-hiking evil, Joe Marucci’s Will Snatchall

Adding to the merriment will be the familiar sight of Graham Smith’s Dame Harmony Humperdinck and Gemma McDonald’s Kurt Jester, entertainers extraordinaire who tour the land with their cabaret double act to help to save Marie-Louise Surgenor’s Maid Marion and the Babes in the Wood (Fergus Green, Ayda Mooney, Henry Cullen and Maddie Chalk).

The prospect of silly jokes, big musical numbers, slapstick and good old-fashioned family fun has led to tickets selling well already, prompting the advice to not delay in booking.  

“It’s the perfect way to kick off Christmas,” says Howard. “Watch a show then go home and put up your tree. It’s what we all do.”

Rowntree Players in Babes In The Wood, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, December 3 to 10. Performances: December 3, 2pm (last few tickets) and 7.30pm; December 4, 2pm (limited availability) and 6pm; December 6 (limited), December 7 (limited), December 8 (last few); December 9, 7.30pm; December 10, 2pm (last few) and  7.30pm (limited). Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk. 

Babes In The Wood writer-director Howard Ella in the rehearsal room

CharlesHutchPress puts Rowntree Players writer-director Howard Ella in the pantomime spotlight ahead of Babes In The Wood’s first night

What makes Robin Hood and Babes In The Wood better for interweaving the two storylines, Howard?

“Robin Hood is a great, and ultimately, very traditional story. It’s very basic in its journey, and so being able to add some elements in the form of the Babes in the Wood helps broaden the story telling.  

“It gives Robin heroic motivation that is broader than wooing Marion and, because it involves a younger cast, it opens up opportunities to take on larger roles.  Of course, the original Hansel and Gretel story is incredibly dark, so I take a huge sidestep and some significant creative liberties!”

What will be the “new twists” you mentioned?

“There’s some twists this year in terms of casting choices and of course the plot goes off on tangents that aren’t wholly (or sometimes remotely) loyal to the initial storytelling.  It’s not irreverence that drives that, but a push to keep things fresh and fun. 

“Details on the twists?  Well, no spoilers – you need to come and see the show – but as a taster, the Dame and comic this year no longer work in the Sheriff’s castle, but are travelling actors: Dame Harmony Humperdinck, the greatest Shakespearean actor of her age (and what an age!) and Kurt Jester, comic extraordinaire.”

What will be the fresh features of this pantomime?

“It’s not just originality in the set that lets us renew every season but also our approach to set design.  We’re so lucky to be one of the few amateur companies in the country to have a full set-building store with engineers, carpenters and the most amazing scenic painter – all volunteers working year-round on our productions.

“This year, for the first time, all of our scenery, every single glittered gem of a piece, has been designed and made for us by that team.  Add to that the amazing costumes our team pull together and we have a show that really is a dazzler.”

Jamie McKeller: Change of gear for actor and ghost tour host, swapping from Doctor Dorian Deathly’s haunted streets of York to spreading evil on the JoRo boards

How important is the elixir of panto right now, given the doom, gloom and financial strictures of the winter ahead and beyond?

“It’s hard to keep positive given the doom and gloom of the wider world and financial forecasts.   Escapism, now and then, is an important rejuvenator in trying times. The magic of going to the theatre, specifically the elixir of panto, is such a good way to reboot together with friends and family, to laugh and tap your feet and be reminded of the positives there are in community, opportunity and good old fart gags!

“A night at the panto lasts far longer than two and a half hours. The kids will be talking about the characters for weeks, the adults will leave humming the tunes, and the dads will be recycling my handcrafted, yet ultimately silly jokes for years to come!”

What will be the big musical numbers in Babes In The Wood?

“There’s a phrase… ’Self indulgence is better than no indulgence at all’. Well, that’s certainly true about the choice of music in panto.  Musical theatre is a great passion of mine and so panto is an opportunity to play with all my favourite show tunes and perform some fun pastiches of various shows. 

“This year we tackle a seven minute-long beast of a number and the dame [Graham Smith] hits some dizzy heights in Act 2.  We’ve got hints of Hairspray, Something Rotten, Gypsy, Wicked.  It’s a real tour of showstoppers!”

How did you sign up Jamie McKeller, alias York ghost tour host Dorian Deathly, to play the villian?

“This year, as well as giving a lot of our younger company a chance to step into new roles, we have some exciting first-timers. The amazing Jamie McKeller and Joe Marucci have landed the roles of the Sheriff and his henchman respectively.  

“Both are Rowntree Players alumni, having been in several plays over the years, but it’s a first foray into the ludicrous for both.   It’s especially pleasing for us to have Jamie, aka Dorian Deathly, the award-winning York spookologist, playing it evil in panto.  Although there’s still a touch of showbiz lurking behind the venom.”

Forest tomfoolery: Gemma McDonald’s Kurt Jester


Plenty of familiar faces are brought back together in the cast: Hannah King’s principal boy Robin Hood opposite Marie-Louise Surgenor’s Maid Marion; Graham Smith’s dame and Gemma McDonald’s daft lass. Audiences enjoy such partnerships….Discuss!

“Of course, along with new faces are some older ones. Some older than others!  There’s a balance between keeping it fresh and building a winning team.  Pantomime is one of those genres where audiences return and enjoy familiar faces and some annual in-jokes.  

“Added to that is the relationships the cast members build.  None is as important as that between ‘Dame’ and ‘Comic’.  For us that is Graham and Gemma who, despite the rigorous audition process, have managed to be cast together for several years.  That shorthand, trust, comic timing, audience understanding and ability to let a script ebb and flow is a vital backbone to a strong pantomime.” 

What do you most enjoy about directing the Rowntree Players in pantomimes?

“Pantomime for everyone is a huge commitment and pretty all-consuming in the run-up to Christmas.  For me, it’s become a year-long process of writing, casting, then going into pre-production, directing the show and overseeing the visual and technical elements.

“It’s a stretch to balance off against work in London and actually being at home sometimes, but it feeds the creative control freak in me.

“The process is so incredibly rewarding but there are two hugely satisfying elements.   Firstly, I can invent whatever silly, nonsensical story, characters and scenarios I fancy and the team of talented, dedicated and, ultimately, incredibly patient volunteers bring it to life. We’re back to the self-indulgence thing.

“Secondly, and most importantly, we introduce a bunch of young people to the stage. Often from the age of nine or ten until they drift off into adulthood, we all get to share in their growth in confidence, talent and height and, I hope, skills they can use later on in life on or off the stage. Watching those performers get stronger every year is the ultimate reward.”

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REVIEW: NE in Oliver!, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, lots more until 26/11/22 ****

Zachary Pickersgill as orphan Oliver: “Could not give more to his role”

NE in Oliver!, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, 7.30pm tonight (last few tickets), then next Tuesday to Saturday; 2.30pm matinees, tonight and next Saturday, both sold out. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk

CREATIVE director and producer Steve Tearle is playing Fagin for the fourth time in Lionel Bart’s beloved musical account of Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist.

He knows both part and musical inside out – he has appeared in six productions since the late-1970s – but he was determined to freshen it up anew, not so much new twists as more Twist.

NE Musicals York may have stripped back its name temporarily to NE but Tearle has embellished Oliver! with short extra scenes, a “fruitier” frisson to Chris Hagyard’s Mr Bumble and a cast of thousands (well, almost), divided into two teams, Dawkins and Twist, for alternate performances.

Steve Tearle’s Fagin: Arch, devious, but humorous too

Tearle reckons this  production is the darkest of NE’s three versions in the past decade – 2015, 2018 and 2022 – signified by the thunder and dark Victorian attire of the opening and wholly encapsulated in the menacing performance of Eric Jensen’s jemmy-wielding Bill Sikes.

Last spotted on stage pushing Priscilla the bus and being a bigoted bar-room rowdy in the Aussie outback in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical, Jensen graduates to a principal role – after the original Sikes had to withdraw for health reasons – with aplomb.

If your reviewer says he even murdered My Name – his big, brutal song in the spotlight – it is meant in the most positive way. By his side, unlike Bill, Bonnie behaves impeccably in the canine spotlight as his English bull terrier, Bullseye.

Anyway, we digress. The opening number sets out Tearle’s stall as 45 children explode from everywhere in a burst of stamping feet to fill the stage for the workhouse number Food, Glorious Food. Tearle has adapted Robert Readman’s My Fair Lady set, utilising its framework for a walkway and to present scenes on a mezzanine level, and he is not averse to his cast frequenting the aisles too in a blur of mischief-making.

Maia Beatrice’s Nancy, right, with Erin Greenley

His Fagin and Zachary Pickersgill’s Oliver even make use of the orchestra pit, when seeking cover from being found. (You will note too the decking out of the pit apron in dockside wood in a striking designer’s flourish.)

Space aplenty is necessary for the ensemble scenes, whether in the pub, the streets, the workhouse, or Fagin’s den of young pickpockets. Tearle’s passion for community theatre is emblazoned across these scenes, so full of life, filling the stage at every opportunity, whether with Fagin’s Gang, Tearle’s young charges relishing taking their early steps on the boards, or with the ever-enthusiastic adult chorus.

Ellie Roberts’s choreography revels in having to accommodate so many limbs, typified by the outstanding Oom-Pah-Pah, while bringing personality to the oh-so-familiar set-piece numbers. Who Will Buy? is a particular delight.

Tearle’s scheming yet lily-livered crook Fagin, Jensen’s bruiser Sikes and Hagyard’s amusingly slimy, meddlesome beadle Mr Bumble will be appearing in all the performances, as will Kelvin Grant’s upstanding Mr Brownlow and Tom Henshaw’s antagonistic undertaker Mr Sowerberry. 

What a scream! Chris Hagyard’s Mr Bumble and Fiona Cameron’s Widow Corney make a comically crotchety couple

CharlesHutchPress saw Thursday’s company, so please forgive no mention of the alternate cast when praising Maia Beatrice’s heartbreaking Nancy (As Long As He Needs Me); Fiona Cameron’s heartless, on-the-make Widow Corney (I Shall Scream); Melissa Boyd’s gothic Mrs Sowerberry (That’s Your Funeral) and Scott Kendrew’s smug bully, Noah Claypole.

Zachary Pickersgill is fearless in the title role, as mobile as a dancer in moving around the stage, and not fazed by that most difficult of songs for a young voice, Where Is Love?. Whether cheeky, defiant, angry, or searching for love amid constant change and adversity, he could not give more to his orphan Oliver.

Toby Jensen hits his groove as a suitably artful Dodger, leading Consider Yourself with swagger, but one tip: keep the head up to look the audience in the eye, projection being so vital to giving off the all-important air of self-confidence that will carry through to the finale with its foretelling of the post-Fagin era.

Rather than cor-blimey, apples-and-pears Cockernee accents, Tearle and his cast are not so specific about placing Oliver! in London’s East End. That ensures clarity throughout, save for the occasional line that needs more volume or those moments when the band overpowers the singing in the sound balance.

Menacing: Eric Jensen’s Bill Sikes

Tearle’s Fagin is arch, devious, but he finds the humour in the old rogue too, whether in improvised asides (such as when struggling to put on his coat), or in his signature song, Reviewing The Situation, where he reviews the song in progress and banters with violinist Olivia Virgo.

He excels in his costume designs too, while Scott Phillips’s orchestra is a joy, flowing between strings and brass, equally adept at the uptempo and the contemplative grand ballad.

All in all, this is an Oliver! with more: more detail, more cast members, more humour, more drama, more shows, spread over two weeks. What more encouragement do you need to join Fagin’s gang and co? If you don’t go, well, that’s your funeral.

Review by Charles Hutchinsion

Oliver, Oliver: Zachary Pickersgill, left, and Fin Walker are alternating performances in the lead role in NE’s Oliver!
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Not only Oliver wants some more, so does director Steve Tearle as NE add new scenes and stretch JoRo Theatre run to a fortnight

Eric Jensen’s Bill Sikes and director Steve Tearle’s Fagin in an argumentative scene in rehearsal for NE’s Oliver!

THE company name is becoming ever shorter, but NE’s production runs in York are growing longer.

Formerly NE Musicals York, NE will be stretching Lionel Bart’s Oliver! into a second week at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, under the direction of Steve Tearle, who is playing Fagin for the fourth time in his career at 62.

“It’s our first venture into doing a fortnight in the theatre,” says Steve. “We wanted to do a show where, if we were going to have two casts, we were going to have a return on it by lengthening the run. We wanted it to be two weeks, not just for us as a company but as an experience for everyone involved.  

“Two performances have sold out already [the Saturday matinees] and four have only limited availability [November 18, 19, 25 and 26, 7.30pm]. We’re selling 100 tickets daily and have sold more than 2,800 so far, but you can always ask for more!”

Where once ‘NE’ stood for the company’s roots of New Earswick, now it is an anagram for creating “New and Exciting” musical productions, the latest being a revised version of Oliver! that complements the familiar songs and characters with added scenes to “bring the story to life in more detail”.

Toby Jensen’s Artful Dodger, left, Callum Richardson’s Charley and Matthew Musk’s Nipper

“It was revised in 2018, when Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh revised it,” says Steve. “So now we have Bill Sikes in Act One with Fagin. 

“I’ve put in a new scene that explains why Nancy so loves Oliver because he stops Sikes from hitting her, and we’ve also revamped Mr Bumble’s character, played at every performance by Chris Hagyard, making him much more fruity!”

The two teams of performers – Team Dawkins and Team Twist – will play alternate performances, led by Zachary Pickersgill and Fin Walker sharing the role of Oliver Twist, the boy who asks for more.

Henry Barker and Toby Jensen will be the Artful Dodger; Fiona Ann Cameron and Aileen Stables, Widow Corney, and Perri Ann Barley and Maia Stroud, Nancy. “They’re playing Nancy in contrasting ways, one older, one younger, so they’re very differing characters,” says Steve.

The intimidating role of Bill Sikes has been re-cast after the original actor had to pull out for health reasons. “Luckily, Eric Jensen has stepped in to play his first big role on stage. Last time, he pushed the bus around and appeared in the bar scenes in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical,” says Steve.

Ali Butler Hind’s Mrs Sowerberry, Chris Hagyard’s Mr Bumble, and Tom Henshaw’s Mr Sowerberry 

“He’s been on the equivalent of a speed-dating experience to achieve what he has!  To go from where he was to where he is now is unbelievable. He’s taken to it like a duck to water. Who knew he had it in him! And he’s getting on so well with the dog, Bonnie, an English bull terrier, who’s playing Bill’s dog, Bullseye.”

Steve himself is performing in Oliver! for the sixth time, having played Mr Sowerberry for the Tyneside Theatre Company in the late-1970s, Mr Brownlow for York Opera and Fagin four times, first for the Tyneside company in the 1980s and now completing a hattrick for NE, after earlier performances eight and four years ago.

“That’s one of the reasons I can direct it because I know the story so well, the characters so well, the songs so well, that I can concentrate on getting the vision I want,” he says. “It means I can try something new, something different. This is our simplest production of Oliver!, quite dark, and I believe it’s our best,” says Steve, who is joined in the production team by musical director Scott Phillips and choreographer Ellie Roberts.

“We have an amazing set too, costumes designed exclusively for this production and 45 children coming on from everywhere in the opening number. Each show, half of them leave after half an hour; the other half stay to do the rest of the show, and we alternate that with each show. The parents have been amazingly supportive, which we really appreciate.”

Steve is “fanatical” in his research for the show’s costumes. “I think it’s really important, when you’re taking someone back to that Victorian time, to be accurate. You want someone to love this musical for everything it stands for, especially if it’s the first time they’re seeing the show, coming with their parents,” he says.

Oliver at the double: Zachary Pickersgill, left, and Fin Walker will share the title role in NE’s Oliver!

“I’ve even researched tattoos, which became fashionable in the 1700s, particularly around the docks.

“I’m also passionate about everyone creating their own back story for their role, so that they really live their character.”

Steeped in theatre through his family’s heritage – Osmond Tearle, Godfrey Tearle et al – Steve has been at the helm of NE for ten years, with one guiding principle, ever since being invited to take over by NEMS stalwart Mavis Massheder.

“I’ve gone back to true community theatre,” he says. “I believe in introducing people to performing theatre for the joy of it and the discipline of it too.

“I love it when we take on people who are just starting out because they have to begin somewhere, and if you don’t give them the chance, how will they ever develop? There are so many life lessons from doing theatre.”

Perri Ann Barley’s Nancy in the rehearsal room

NE will re-emerge next year with a new name, still incorporating ‘NE’, as Steve looks to expand the company’s vision. “I need to get rid of the word ‘musicals’ from the title to the point where it isn’t necessary for songs to be in the shows. It could be dance; it could be drama; a whole dance show, a straight play, but definitely not a music revue night.

“I want to attract more dancers and more people who are interested in drama that maybe can’t sing. In essence, we’ll look to do three shows a year, like Nik Briggs with York Stage and Robert Readman with Pick Me Up Theatre.”

NE in Oliver!, at Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, today until Saturday, then November 22 to 26, 7.30pm, plus 2.30pm matinees, November 19 and 26. Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Did you know?

FORMED in 1914 as the New Earswick Dramatic Society, the society has mutated into New Earswick Dramatic and Operatic Society, New Earswick Operatic Society, New Earswick Musical Society, latterly NE Musicals York and now NE. A new name will be announced shortly.

Director Steve Tearle leading a rehearsal for Oliver! with his young charges

Did you know too?

WEST End actor, musical theatre performer and singing teacher Ashley Stillburn is NE’s new patron.

He grew up in North Yorkshire, performing on the York stage, before heading south in 2011 to study at Guildford School of Acting, where he graduated with a First in musical theatre.

He has since starred in Les Miserables and played the Phantom in The Phantom Of The Opera in London. From Buxton, in the Peak District, he teaches singing online and in person.

“We particularly look forward to Ashley coming up to York to talk to our young actors,” says director Steve Tearle.

Copyright of The Press, York

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Looking for More Things To Do in York and beyond? I got you, babe. Time to share Hutch’s List No. 105, courtesy of The Press

Made for Chering: Millie O’Connell’s Babe, left, Debbie Kurup’s Star and Danielle Steers’ Lady in The Cher Show: A New Musical. Picture: Matt Crockett

FROM Cher times three and Charlie and that chocolate factory, to G&S and Oliver!, musical entertainment dominates Charles Hutchinson’s diary.

Cher, Cher and Cher alike: The Cher Show: A New Musical, Grand Opera House, York, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm; 2.30pm, Wednesday and Saturday

TURNING back time, Millie O’Connell’s Babe, Danielle Steers’s Lady and Debbie Kurup’s Star share out the Cher role in The Cher Show, the story of the American singer, actress and television personality’s meteoric rise to fame as she flies in the face of convention at every turn.

This celebration of the “Goddess of Pop” and “Queen of Reinvention” packs in 35 hits, I Got You Babe, If I Could Turn Back Time, Strong Enough, The Shoop Shoop Song, Believe et al. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.

Oliver at the double: Fin Walker, left, and Zachary Pickersgill will be sharing the title role in NE’s production of Oliver!

Community musical of the fortnight: NE in Oliver!, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, November 16 to 19 and 22 to 26, 7.30pm; 2.30pm, Saturday matinees

NE, formerly NE Musicals York and soon to be renamed again, are performing a fortnight’s run for the first time, presenting Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver! in a revised version that complements the familiar songs and characters with added scenes to “bring the story to life in more detail”. 

Two teams of performers will be undertaking alternate performances, led by Zachary Pickersgill and Fin Walker, sharing the role of Oliver Twist, and Henry Barker and Toby Jensen’s Artful Dodger. Director Steve Tearle plays Fagin for the fourth time, joined in the production team by musical director Scott Phillips and choreographer Ellie Roberts. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Exhibition of the week: Lesley Seeger & Katherine Bree, Pigment & Stone, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, in collaboration until November 27

Jewellery designer Katherine Bree, left, and artist Lesley Seeger in the North Yorkshire countryside

LESLEY Seeger and Katherine Bree form Yorkshire-London collaboration for the painting and gemstone show Pigment & Stone at Pyramid Gallery.

In a celebration of form and colour with an earthy elemental twist, city jewellery designer Katherine has chosen paintings by Huttons Ambo landscape painter Lesley as inspiration for her new collection of gemstone treasures.

Katherine divides her collections into the four elements – earth, air, fire and water – and this provides a perfect complement to Lesley’s elemental paintings, which she describes as “talismans that will reveal themselves over time with their rich histories of place, layers and colour”.

Love-struck at sea: Jack Storey-Hunter’s sailor Ralph and Alexandra Mather’s Josephine, the Captain’s daughter, in York Opera’s HMS Pinafore

Light opera of the week: York Opera in HMS Pinafore, York Theatre Royal, Wednesday to Saturday, 7.30pm; 2.30pm Saturday matinee

YORK Opera sets sail in Gilbert & Sullivan’s operetta HMS Pinafore or The Lass That Loved A Sailor, steered by a new command of stage director Annabel van Griethuysen and conductor Tim Selman.

The story follows Ralph (society newcomer Jack Storey-Hunter), a lovesick sailor, and Josephine (Alexandra Mather), the Captain’s daughter, who are madly in love but kept apart by social hierarchy. All aboard for such G&S favourites as We Sail The Ocean Blue, Never Mind The Why And Wherefore and When I Was A Lad. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory cast members in the rehearsal room at Leeds Playhouse. Picture: Johan Persson

Yorkshire’s big opening of the week: Charlie And The Chocolate Factory – The Musical, Leeds Playhouse, November 18 to January 28

CHOCK-A-BLOCK! Around 30,000 chocoholics have booked their golden ticket already for Leeds Playhouse’s winter musical spectacular, presented in association with Neal Street Productions and Playful Productions ahead of a British tour.

Songs such as The Candy Man and Pure Imagination from the film versions of Roald Dahl’s sweet-toothed adventure will be bolstered by new songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Gareth Snook’s Willy Wonka, Kazmin Borrer’s Veruca Salt and Robin Simoes Da Silva’s Augustus Gloop lead James Brining’s cast; Amelia Minto, Isaac Sugden, Kayleen Nguema and Noah Walton share the role of Charlie Bucket. Box office: 0113 213 7700 or leedsplayhouse.org.uk.

Chloe Latchmore: York Musical Society’s mezzo-soprano soloist for The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace at York Minster

Classical concert of the week: York Musical Society, The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace, York Minster, November 19, 7.30pm

YORK Musical Society’s dramatic performance of Sir Karl Jenkins’s powerful work The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace features full orchestra and soloists soprano Ella Taylor, mezzo-soprano Chloe Latchmore, tenor Greg Tassell and baritone Thomas Humphreys.

Jenkins’s work will be complemented by Joseph Haydn’s lyrical 1796 Mass In Time Of War – Missa In Tempore Belli, also known as Paukenmesse (Kettle Drum Mass in German), on account of its kettle drum solo. Box office: 01904 623568, at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk and on the door.

The poster for South Bank Studios’ Art & Craft Winter Fair at Southlands Methodist Church

Looking for Christmas presents? South Bank Studios Art & Craft Winter Fair, Southlands Methodist Church, November 19, 10am to 5pm

SOUTH Bank Studios’ winter fair assembles 28 artists and crafters, who will be displaying and selling their original artwork and creations, targeted at the Christmas market.

Browers and buyers alike can tour the 18 studios within the church building’s upper floors with a chance to meet assorted artists in situ. Entry is free and refreshments are available throughout the day.

Julie Madly Deeply: Sarah-Louise Young celebrating the life and songs of Dame Julie Andrews at Theatre@41. Picture: Steve Ullathorne

Truly scrumptious show of the week: Sarah-Louise Young in Julie Madly Deeply, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, November 20, 7.30pm

AFTER her glorious An Evening Without Kate Bush, Fringe favourite Sarah-Louise Young returns to York with her West End and Off-Broadway smash in celebration of “genuine showbiz icon” Dame Julie Andrews.

Fascinating Aida alumna Young’s charming yet cheeky cabaret takes a look at fame and fandom by intertwining Andrews’ songs from Mary Poppins, The Sound Of Music and My Fair with stories and anecdotes of her life, from her beginnings as a child star to the challenges of losing her singing voice, in a humorous, candid love letter to a showbusiness survivor. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Strictly between them: Ten – yes ten, count’em – Strictly Come Dancing professionals will be sashaying their way to York Barbican next May

Hot ticket of the week: Get a move on for Strictly Come Dancing – The Professionals, York Barbican, May 12 2023

 HURRY, hurry! The last few tickets are still on sale for a spectacular line-up of ten professional dancers from the hit BBC show: Strictly professionals Dianne Buswell; Vito Coppola; Carlos Gu; Karen Hauer; Neil Jones; Nikita Kuzmin; Gorka Marquez; Luba Mushtuk; Jowita Przystal and Nancy Xu.

“Don’t miss your chance to see these much-loved dancers coming together to perform in a theatrical ensemble that will simply take your breath away,” says the Barbican blurb. Box office: ticketmaster.co.uk/strictly-come-dancing-the-professionals-2023-york.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond as clocks go back for longer nights and festival shorts. Hutch’s List No. 104, from The Press

Filip Fredrik’s Elements: Showing at Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2022

A FILM festival with international pedigree, poetry clashes, comedy aplenty and Constellations shine out for Charles Hutchinson.

Festival of the week: Aesthetica Short Film Festival, across York, Tuesday to Sunday

AESTHETICA Short Film Festival returns for 300 films in 15 venues over six days in York in its 12th edition. The BAFTA-Qualifying event will have a hybrid format, combining the live festival with a selection of screenings, masterclasses and events on the digital platform until November 30.

New for 2022 will be York Days, a discount scheme with the chance to save 50 per cent on prices on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday programmes. Comedies, dramas, thrillers, animation, family-friendly films and documentaries all feature, complemented by workshops, the Virtual Reality Lab, installations and the festival fringe. Box office: asff.co.uk/tickets.

Malaika Kegode: Guest appearance at Say Owt Slam’s birthday party. Picture: Jon Aitken

Birthday party of the week: Say Owt Slam’s 8th Birthday Special, with Malaika Kegode, The Crescent, York, tonight (29/10/2022), 7.30pm

SAY Owt, York’s loveable gang of performance poets, Stu Freestone, Henry Raby, Hannah Davies and David Jarman, welcome special-guest Bristol poet Malaika Kegode to a high-energy night of words and verse, humour and poet-versus-poet fun.

“It started as a one-off gig! I can’t believe we’re still slamming eight years later,” says artistic director and host Raby. “Whether you’re a veteran or looking for something new, everyone is welcome at a Say Owt Slam, where each poet has a maximum of three minutes to wow randomly selected judges with their poetry.” Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

David O’Doherty: Change of date for York gig

On the move: David O’Doherty: Whoa Is Me, Grand Opera House, York, changing from Monday to February 5 2023, 8pm

HERE he comes again, albeit later than first planned, trotting on stage with all of the misplaced confidence of a waiter with no pad.

“There’ll be lots of talking, some apologising and some songs on a glued-together plastic keyboard from 1986,” promises David O’Doherty, comedian, author, musician, actor and playwright, 1990 East Leinster under-14 triple jump bronze medallist and son of jazz pianist Jim Doherty. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.

Flo & Joan: Musical comedy duo offer thoughts on topics of the day

Musical comedy of the week: Flo & Joan, Sweet Release, Grand Opera House, York, Tuesday, 7.3pm

FLO & Joan, the British musical comedy duo of sisters Nicola and Rosie Dempsey, play York as one of 30 additional dates on their 2022 tour after their return to the Edinburgh Fringe.

Climbing back out of their pits, armed with a piano and percussion, they poke around the  classic topics of the day with their fusion of comedy and song with a dark undertow.

The sisters have penned five numbers for the West End musical Death Drop and have written and performed songs for Horrible Histories (CBBC), Rob Delaney’s Stand Up Central (Comedy Central) and BBC Radio 4’s The Now Show. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.

Emilio Iannucci: Starring in Nick Payne’s romantic two-hander Constellations at the SJT

Play of the week outside York: Constellations, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, running until November 12

WHEN beekeeper Roland meets scientist Marianne, anything could happen in University of York alumnus Nick Payne’s romantic and revealing exploration of the many possibilities that can result from a single meeting. Reminiscent of Sliding Doors and Kate Atkinson’s novel Life After Life, this two-hander starring Carla Harrison-Hodge and Emilio Iannucci ponders “What if?”.

“Constellations plays with time and space in the most brilliant way,” says director Paul Robinson. “Deeply human, deeply moving, it genuinely tilts the world for you. I challenge anyone not to leave the theatre just a bit more aware of what a fragile and remarkable thing life is.” Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Bring It On: “The thrill of extreme competition”

Backflip of the week: York Stage in Bring It On: The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Wednesday to Saturday, 7.30pm; Saturday matinee, 2.30pm

THE York premiere of Bring It On backflips into the JoRo in a youth theatre production directed by Nik Briggs. Inspired by the film of the same name, this story of the challenges and surprising bonds forged through the thrill of extreme competition is packed with vibrant characters, electrifying contemporary songs and explosive choreography.

This Broadway hit is the energy-fuelled work of Tony Award winners Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton), Jeff Whitty (Avenue Q) and Tom Kitt (Grease: Live). Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Humour on hand: Harry Hill promises Pedigree Fun on his first tour since 2013

Very silly show of the week: Harry Hill, Pedigree Fun!, Grand Opera House, York, Wednesday, 7.30pm

COMEDIAN, writer, actor, artist and former doctor Harry Hill and his big shirt collars take to the stage for an all-singing, all-dancing surrealist spectacular in his long-awaited return to the live arena for the fist time since 2013’s Sausage Time tour.

“I hadn’t realised how much I missed performing live until lockdown stopped me from doing it,” he says. “The good news is I’m planning a very silly show.” Full of pop-culture spoofs, no doubt.

Audiences will meet Harry’s new baby elephant, Sarah, along with regular sidekick Stouffer the Cat. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.

John McCusker: Fiddler supreme on 30th anniversary tour

Fiddler on the road: The John McCusker Band 30th Anniversary Tour, National Centre for Early Music, York, Wednesday, 7.30pm

SCOTTISH fiddle player John McCusker will be joined by Ian Carr, Sam Kelly, Helen McCabe and Toby Shaer for his concert series in celebration of 30 years as a professional folk musician since cutting his teeth in The Battlefield Band at 17.

To coincide with this landmark, McCusker has released a Best Of album featuring tracks from his solo records and television and film soundtracks, alongside a book of 100 original compositions, John McCusker: The Collection.

“I’m delighted to be able to get this special show on the road and celebrate 30 years as a professional musician,” says McCusker. “I’m looking forward to performing the highlights from my back catalogue and revisiting memories associated with those tracks.

“It’s brilliant that I’ve been able to make music and perform for 30 years and I’ve worked with so many incredible people in that time. I’ve never had a plan; good things have just
happened and, so far, it’s worked out as well as I could possibly have dreamed of. I can’t
wait to play with my friends again.” Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

York Settlement Community Players’ cast for Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike: Mick Liversidge (Vanya), top left, Victoria Delaney (Sonia) and Susannah Baines (Sasha); Andrew Roberts (Spike), bottom left, Sanna Jeppsson (Cassandra) and Livy Potter

York premiere of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Thursday, Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm, 7.30pm

VANYA and his sister Sonia live a quiet life in the Pennsylvania farmhouse where they grew up, but when their famous film-star sister, Masha, makes an impromptu visit with her dashing, twenty-something boyfriend, Spike, a chaotic weekend ensues.

Resentment, rivalry and revealing premonitions begin to boil over as the three siblings battle to be heard in Christopher Durang’s comedy, winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best New Play with its blend of Chekhovian ennui, modern-day concerns of celebrity, social networking and the troubling onset of middle age. Jim Paterson directs Settlement Players’ production. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Plastic Mermaids: “Emotional exploration of the many facets of heartbreak”

Time to discover…Plastic Mermaids, The Crescent, York, November 10; Oporto, Leeds, February 2 2023

AFTER playing Glastonbury and Camp Bestival in the summertime, Isle of Wight five-piece Plastic Mermaids are off on an 11-date tour to promote their second album, It’s Not Comfortable To Grow, out now on Sunday Best.

Led by brothers Douglas and Jamie Richards, who approach life like an art project, they face up to their dark side in an emotional exploration of the many facets of heartbreak on such psych-rock and electronica numbers as Girl Boy Girl, Disposable Love, Something Better and Elastic Time. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

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Covid curse strikes again as Doctor Dorian Deathly is forced to postpone A Night Of Face Melting Horror until next January UPDATED 1/11/2022

Doctor Dorian Deathly’s nights of face melting horror must wait until January 2023

YORK spookologist and ghost botherer Doctor Dorian Deathly was to have swapped walking the (ghost) walk for talking the (ghost) talk for Halloween season, but Covid has “done a right number on him”, in the words of Deathly Dark Tours operations manager Dede Deathly.

Moving indoors from the city streets, Visit York’s New Tourism Business Award Winner for 2022 would have been presenting six fright nights of scary tales, spooks caught on film and ghost stories of England’s “most haunted city”, to be experienced from the relative safety of a seat at Theatre@41, Monkgate, from tonight until October 31. The performances will take place from January 24 to 28 2023 instead.

When the show does go ahead, the deadpan Doctor Deathly will present The Complete History Of Ghosts in A Night Of Face Melting Horror through a combination of stories, paranormal sciences, horror, theatrical trickery, original music and perhaps the odd unexpected guest at 8.30pm each night.

“Together we will huddle around the stage and explore spine-chilling tales of hauntings, both local and further afield, dissemble horrors captured on film and follow the ghost story through from its origins to the Victorian classics and modern-day frights,” says Doctor Deathly, whose face-melting macabre amusements are suitable to age 13 plus as he considers what makes spines shiver and examines our obsession with tales of death, murder and hauntings.

Doctor Deathly was struck by the idea of doing a show at Theatre@41 after seeing Pick Me Up Theatre in The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ The Musical last December. “It sparked the bit of the brain that causes trouble!” he says. “Rather than just having our ghost walks for Halloween, which we know will sell out, I thought, ‘let’s do something here’.

“During the last couple of years, we were doing lots of online events, streamed on Facebook during lockdown to thousands of people around the world. There are only a certain number of ghost stories for York on a prescribed route, when people want to see Shambles and the Minster, and we thought, ‘how can we show different things?’.

“We came up with the online show Tales From The Fireplace, where people would send in ghost stories and pictures and videos of encounters with ghosts.  It was essentially like a TV show, where we got a few funny ones sent in; we were coming at it from that angle, analysing them and breaking them down. Some were brilliantly well written.”

The now defunct poster for Doctor Dorian Deathly’s postponed Halloween event at Theatre@41

This prompted Doctor Deathly to construct A Night Of Face Melting Horror. “First and foremost, it’s entertainment. People love ghost stories and we thought, what if we flip it on its head and people have to come out to the theatre to celebrate ghost stories from the wild?” he says.

“The thread through the show is the history of the ghost story, talking about the origins of those stories, what they come from, their place in both texts and the imagination. Then we look at how it exploded in Victorian times with huge interest in these stories.”

Born in Scarborough, Deathly’s inventor, actor Jamie McKeller, moved to York in 2004/2005, first performing in A Christmas Carol at the Castle Museum and with Lee Harris and The Dreaming in Terry Pratchett’s Rincewind.

“I’d been to York on fleeting visits, then I was getting on the train here to rehearse. One day I was walking through York, and it was snowing, and I popped into a coffee shop.  Looking out at the Minster, I remember thinking, ‘how can I not move here?’.”

For 15 years, he was a professional actor. “It’s exhausting, a grind,” he says, delighted to now have a constant, stable income as a ghost walker. “It’s my company too, so I can do these crazy things.“

Part of York’s Guild of Spookologists , alongside Mad Alice, Shadows Of York (Mackenzie Crompton) and Damian Freddi’s Dark Chronicles, Doctor Dorian Deathly’s Deathly Dark Tours has taken on a second York tour guide to meet demand, Dorian being joined by Dafydd Deathly, from Wales.

“He ran virtual tours for us in Edinburgh and now he’s come back to York, I asked him if he would join me because the tour is so busy. We run six nights a week,” says Doctor Deathly.

“Why are you here, for this show full of ghosts, in a world of such niceties?” asks Doctor Dorian Deathly

“We did two shows a night in Summer 2021, but it’s a very non-traditional ghost tour, very theatrical, very big, with magic tricks. It’s very tiring! 30-year-old Jamie doing that each night, fine; 42-year-old Jamie, maybe not!”

Why, Dorian, are we drawn to the horror, the horror, of ghost stories, especially in York? “It’s that obsession with fear, but why do we do that to ourselves?” he asks himself. “Why do we like putting ourselves in that situation?

“The opening song in A Night Of Face Melting Horror poses a question: I directly ask, ‘what’s wrong with you, with all of us, in a world of The Great British Bake Off and The Great Pottery Throw Down, why are you here, for this show full of ghosts, in a world of such niceties? That’s the answer we’re looking for; the answer to that!”

Why does York suit ghost storytelling, Dorian? “I have friends who are tour guides around the country and sometimes I feel sorry for them because they have to talk about things that are no longer there in their city. But in York you can see a piece of wood dating from the 12th century, and you watch Americans blink as they take that in,” he says.

Once back to full health, his acting side will flourish once more as Jamie takes on the role of the baddie, the Sheriff of Nottingham, in Rowntree Players’ pantomime, Babes In The Wood, at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, on December 3, 4 and 6 to 10. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Doctor Dorian Deathly’s A Night Of Face Melting Horror (or The Complete History Of Ghosts), Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, will not run from October 26 to31, 8.30pm nightly, after all as a result of illness. The new dates will be January 24 to 28 2023. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

For more information on Doctor Dorian Deathly’s walking tours, visit www.deathlydarktours.com or call 07851 032041.

Forestry commission: Jamie McKeller ventures into the dark side as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Rowntree Players’ 2022 pantomime, Babes In The Wood
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NE to serve up more in revised Oliver! with extra scenes at Joseph Rowntree Theatre

Oliver! Oliver! Meet NE’s two Oliver Twists, Zachary Pickersgill in orphan’s clothes and Fin Walker in his Sunday suit, who will alternate performances next month

IT would appear that NE Musicals York have undergone a name change to the shortest theatre company moniker in York: NE.

Once NE stood for New Earswick, the company’s roots. Now it is an anagram for creating “NEW & EXCITING” musical productions.

Formed in 1914 as the New Earswick Dramatic Society, the society has mutated into New Earswick Dramatic and Operatic Society, New Earswick Operatic Society, New Earswick Musical Society and latterly NE Musicals York.

Anyway, here comes NE’s latest new and exciting production, Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver!, now well into rehearsals for the November 16 to 26 run at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York.

Steve Tearle directs NE cast members as they rehearse Food Glorious Food

The NE creative team behind Wind In The Willows and Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical will stage a revised version of Oliver!, complementing the familiar songs and characters with added scenes that “bring the story to life in more detail”. 

The show-stopping songs are all there, including Food Glorious Food, Consider Yourself, Who Will Buy?, As Long As He Needs Me and Where Is Love?

Two teams of performers will play alternate performances, led by Zachary Pickersgill and Fin Walker sharing the role of Oliver Twist, the boy who asks for more. Henry Barker and Toby Jensen will be the Artful Dodger; Perri Ann Barley and Maia Stroud, Nancy, and Fiona Ann Cameron and Aileen Stables, Widow Corney.

Zachary Pickersgill’s Oliver

At each performance, director Steve Tearle will play Fagin, James O’Neil, Bill Sikes, and Chris Hagyard, Mr Bumble.

“We have an amazing set, costumes designed exclusively for this production and 50 children in the opening number,” says Steve, who is joined in the production team by musical director Scott Phillips and choreographer Ellie Roberts. “This is an epic production not to be missed: a night at the theatre for the whole family to remember.”

Tickets are on sale on 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk. Performance times: 7.30pm, November 16 to 19 and 22 to 26; 2.30pm matinees, November 19 and 26.

Fin Walker’s Oliver
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More Things To Do in York and beyond: The Mirror Crack’d and other cracking ideas. Hutch’s List No. 100, from The Press

On the case: Susie Blake’s bandaged Miss Marple and Oliver Boot’s Detective Inspector Craddock in the Original Theatre Company’s production of The Mirror Crack’d. Picture: Ali Wright

COINCIDING with Miss Marple’s arrival, Charles Hutchinson  applies his investigative skills to to pick out the best prospects to see, whether usual or unusual.  

Mystery of the week: Original Theatre Company in Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm; 2pm, Thursday; 2.30pm, Saturday

SUSIE Blake’s Miss Marple, Sophie Ward and Joe McFadden lead the cast in Rachel Wagstaff’s stage adaptation of Agatha Christie’s 1962 psychological thriller, a story of revenge and the dark secrets that we all hide.

In the sleepy village of St Mary Mead, a new housing estate is making villagers curious and fearful. Even stranger, a rich American film star has bought the Manor House. Cue a vicious murder; cue Jane Marple defying a sprained ankle to unravel a web of lies, tragedy and danger. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

On the move: Dance time for the Barbara Taylor School of Dancing at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre

Every body dance: It’s Dance Time 2022, Barbara Taylor School of Dancing, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, today, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

IT’S Dance Time is “a festival arrangement of dance, infused together to arrange a variety of dance styles”, featuring the whole Barbara Taylor School of Dancing intake.

From tiny toes to fully grown, this song-and- dance parade through the years takes in Commercial Ballet, Tap, and Freestyle Jazz, finishing off with excerpts from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Bingham String Quartet: Playing the first Saturday evening concert of the new York Late Music season

Season launch of the week: York Late Music presents Jakob Fichert, today, 1pm, and Bingham String Quartet, today, 7.30pm, St Saviourgate Unitarian Chapel, York

ON the first weekend of its 2022-2023 season, York Late Music returns with its regular format of a lunchtime and evening concert. First up, pianist Jakob Fichert marks the 75th birthday of American composer John Adams by performing his works China Gates and American Berserk.

Later, the Bingham String Quartet play string quartets by Beethoven, Schnittke, LeFanu and Tippett, preceded by a talk at 6.45pm by Steve Bingham with a complimentary glass of wine or juice. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.

Graham Norton: Discussing his darkly comic new novel, Forever Home, at York Theatre Royal

Novel event of the week:  An Evening With Graham Norton, York Theatre Royal, Monday, 7.30pm

BBC broadcaster, Virgin Radio presenter and novelist Graham Norton is on a promotional tour for his new book, Forever Home, published this week by Coronet. Set in a small Irish town, it revolves around divorced teacher Carol, whose second chance of love brings her unexpected connection, a shared home and a sense of belonging in a darkly comic story of coping with life’s extraordinary challenges.

In conversation with author and presenter Konnie Huq, Norton will discuss the novel’s themes and how he creates his characters and atmospheric locations, share tales from his career and reveal what inspired him to pick up a pen and start writing, with room for audience questions too. Tickets update: sold out; for returns only, check yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Sax to the max: Jean Toussaint leads his quintet at the NCEM

Jazz gig of the week: Jean Toussaint Quintet, National Centre for Early Music, York, Wednesday, 7.30pm

SAXOPHONIST Jean Toussaint, who came to prominence in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1982, after his Berklee College of Music studies in Boston, has released 12 albums since moving to London in 1987.

His latest, Songs For Sisters Brothers And Others, reflects on the turbulent Covid-19 years. “The pandemic caused me to focus on the fragility of life and the fact we’re here one moment and gone the next,” he says of penning songs as a “tribute to my wonderful siblings while they were still around to enjoy it”.

Joining him in York will be Freddie Gavita, trumpet, Jonathan Gee, piano, Conor Murray, bass, and Shane Forbes, drums. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Feel like dancing? Leo Sayer steps out at York Barbican on Friday

The rearranged show must go on: Leo Sayer, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm

DELAYED by the pandemic, Leo Sayer’s York show now forms part of a 2022 tour to mark his 50th anniversary in pop.

Sayer, 74, who lives in Australia, is back on home soil with his not-so-one-man band to perform a setlist sure to feature  One Man Band, Thunder In My Heart, Moonlighting, I Can’t Stop Loving You, More Than I Can Say, Have You Ever Been In Love, When I Need You, You Make Me Feel Like Dancing and, yes, The Show Must Go On. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Buzzing: Maisie Adam heads home for Harrogate Theatre gig. Picture: Matt Crockett

Homecoming of the week: Maisie Adam: Buzzed, Harrogate Theatre, October 8, 8pm

BORN in Pannal and former head girl at St Aidan’s in Harrogate, anecdotal stand-up Maisie Adam heads home next Saturday on her first full-scale British tour to discuss relationships, house plants, her footballing aplomb, hopefully her beloved Leeds United and that haircut, the one to rival David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane for multiple choices across one barnet.

Adam played her first gig at the Ilkley Literature Festival in 2016 and won the nationwide So You Think You’re Funny? Competition in 2017. Now she pops up on Mock The Week and Have I Got News and co-hosts the podcast That’s A First. She also plays Leeds City Varieties on Friday. Box office: Harrogate, 01423 502116 or harrogatetheatre.co.uk; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

Digging the digital: The poster for Foto/Grafic’s Human After All digital-media exhibition at Fossgate Social and Micklegate Social

One exhibition, two locations: Foto/Grafic, Human After All, at Micklegate Social and Fossgate Social, York, today until November 27.

TWO sister bars that “show a bit of art every now and then championing local and innovative creativity” present Foto/Grafic’s group show from this weekend.

Human After All features digital-media artwork by young and early-career artists in celebration of their “leap from physical earthbound creations to the stratosphere of the unlimited digital toolbox”.

December Morning, by Judy Burnett

Exhibition launch of the week outside York: Judy Burnett, Time And Tide, Morten Gallery, High Street, Old Town, Bridlington, today until November 13; open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm

YORK artist Judy Burnett’s latest show of paintings and collages at Morten Gallery winds its way across the Wolds from the River Ouse in York to the sea.

Over time, water in all its forms has created the East Yorkshire landscape, firstly as a melting glacier at the end of the Ice Age, gouging out deep valleys and folds on its way down to the Vale of York.

The River Ouse then connects with other Yorkshire waterways to spill out into the North Sea at the mouth of the Humber and return on the tide to crash onto the cliffs of the Wolds coastline.

Judy lives by the Ouse in York, with a view from her studio window directly onto the riverbank, leading to the changing effects of light on moving water being an inspiration for her work. The colours and rhythms of the water alter with the weather, the time of day, the seasons and the frequent floods.

This interest in the luminosity and movement of water is also reflected in Judy’s many paintings of the Yorkshire coast, most particularly at Flamborough Head and Bridlington.

During the past year, she has made many trips across the Wolds, observing the rich tapestry of the countryside that links the river to the sea.

Her sketches are completed on-site in varying weather conditions. Back in the studio, they are developed in a range of media, utilising hand-printed collage paper and paint. The aim is to keep all the mark-making fresh and spontaneous, to echo the power of the elements at the time of observation.

 A Meet The Artist event will be held on October 22, from 1pm to 3pm, when “you are welcome to join us for a glass of wine and to enjoy the 30 pieces of work, together with Judy’s sketchbooks on display,” says gallery owner Jenny Morten.

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Punk expressionist Tom Wilson empties kitchen for first exhibition in ten years. Sale proceeds will go to the people of Ukraine

“My art looks like an explosion,” says York artist Tom Wilson

PROMPTED by his friends’ urges  “to do something” with all that artwork filling his small York bungalow, Tom Wilson is to hold his first exhibition in ten years in aid of the people of Ukraine.

From 10.30am to 6.30pm tomorrow (15/9/2022) and Friday, myriad riots of colour by artist, playwright, theatre director and tutor Tom will be on display and for sale at St Bede’s, 21 Blossom Street, York, with free admission.

“I wish to thank the very kind and supportive staff at St Bede’s Pastoral Centre and the Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre,” says Tom. “They’ve been so accommodating. Just wonderful!

“There’ll be food and drinks available for all the visitors we’re expecting, and for those who’ll be disappointed they can’t make the exhibition, there’s still an opportunity to browse the work and purchase paintings online at https://north.art/directory/artist/tom-wilson/.”

In the frame: York artist Tom Wilson with two of his artworks

Originally from Salford, polymath Tom has lived in York for more than 16 years and started painting in 1996 after the loss of a good friend to cancer while living in Roehampton.

“I found it a comforting therapy and a kind of a healing activity,” says Tom, who has held three previous shows, the last one taking place in 2012 at the Friends’ Meeting House, in Friargate, to raise funds for the Haiti Earthquake Foundation.

“Starting to paint helped me to process losing this friend, who died very quickly, at only 50 years old. I did this painting, The Night Form, which was like an apparition, or typically what a kid would think of. Adults can think of things that are scary, but children’s minds go to places where there’s no structure, it’s just endless, so their experience is darker.

“But once you articulate something, get it on to a page or a canvas, it becomes less terrifying. More manageable. That’s how I felt.”

Embroiled, by Tom Wilson

Linking his painting past to his present, The Night Form will be on show at St Bede’s among the newer works.

“After living in London for more than 20 years, York gives me incredible peace of mind,” he says. Peace of mind that leads to Tom’s artistic expression both as an artist and playwright, as witnessed in August last year when council chaos and Covid clashed in his timely anarchic farce The Local Authority, presented by the Naloxone Theatre Ensemble at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre.

He is delighted to be mounting his first exhibition in a decade. “At least if I sell one or two paintings, I’ll be able to find my way in and out of the kitchen without risking life and limb,” says Tom, who is disabled and lives alone with his cat, Pendle. “I’m hoping to sell enough to make a difference by sending proceeds to support the people of Ukraine.

“It’ll definitely help with clearing out my bungalow. I got a new shed but filled that up within a day; I was going to try to use it as studio but that never came off! So I just use whatever space I’ve got, the kitchen mainly, but it’s not ideal. Unless you’re moving work on, there’s no point doing new work as it just clutters the place up.”

The poster for Tom Wilson’s anarchic farce, The Local Authority, premiered at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, in August 2021

His dynamic abstract artwork is influenced by Kandinsky, Max Earnst, Otto Dix, Outsider art, German Expressionism and Rayonism (Russian Expressionism). “Rayonism was like a punk movement, breaking away, to try to paint ‘rays of light’, and I took my ideas from their freedom from convention.

“However, it’s also important to find your own voice and your own style,” he says, after being excited and motivated by seeing multiple visceral and dramatic pieces of art.

“I tend to use lots or orange and green in my work, and I think it’s all about the volume, not as in ‘amount’, but as in ‘turning up the amp’, like Jimi Hendrix did with his guitar, so the volume goes up.”

To achieve that Hendrix hum in his art, Tom favours painting on black boards, applying orange, Irish green and turquoise, mystical colours that “conjure up a feeling of vibrations”.

“There’s a lot of happy accidents with my stuff,” says Tom Wilson

“I’ve been using Sennelier crayons, oil crayons rather than wax ones, that are very soft, almost like lipstick, and not easy to work with. Picasso first commissioned them; they were made just for him, when he was struggling to find exactly what he wanted.

“A studio said to him, ‘you tell us what you want, we’ll make it for you’, and if it was good enough for Pablo Picasso, then it’ll do for me!”

Describing his artistic style, Tom says: “There’s a lot of happy accidents with my stuff. Some of it is manipulated experiments, like putting paint on one canvas, then putting another canvas on top of that and then pulling them apart like layers of skin.

“Sometimes it’s about ‘unlearning’ something that you loved or remembered in a painting and just going for it.”

“It’s all about the volume, not as in ‘amount’, but as in ‘turning up the amp’, like Jimi Hendrix did with his guitar,” says Tom Wilson of his painting style

In a moment of sudden candour, Tom says: “I can’t paint! My art looks like an explosion. I’ll be honest, I think I’m a chancer, not a natural-born painter. I can’t even draw. I’ll draw a dog and it looks like a dinosaur…an angry dog!

“But it’s important to have that freedom. Art isn’t a competition; it’s the way you articulate something. That’s the essence of creativity.

“Painting is like a voyage of discovery for me. Maybe other artists start with a painting they loved, maybe a seascape, but I’ll start without a plan. I’ll start with a mood, then make a shape, maybe a curve, and start following it, like jazz musicians improvising. It’s about the vibe, just as it is with jazz.

“Again, rather like music, I can do ten paintings to arrive at the one I want, so those ten paintings are like a rehearsal to get to where I need to be. You don’t show people the departure point; you show them the arrival.”

“I start with a mood, then make a shape, maybe a curve, and start following it, like jazz musicians improvising,” says Tom Wilson

He makes a further comparison with the jazz world. “Ask Ornette Coleman or Thelonious Monk what they’re going to play, and they’d say, ‘I don’t know’ and then start playing. It’s the same with one of my paintings,” says Tom.

“On top of that, I think it’s about expressing an anarchic humour, like John Lennon, Salvador Dali, Picasso.

“What happens is you go into an inner-child mentality, almost like writing with the opposite hand, and you find an area to explore and then the adult takes over to say, ‘right, we’ll take it this final point’.”

Tom loves applying boldness in his work; he can go four days without painting then suddenly have a flurry of six in two days, rampant with all those orange and green outbursts, and even applying Tippex, but not to correct faults! “No, it’s because it’s always ultra-white, almost like false teeth, whereas white paint can go grey,” he clarifies.

A profusion of orange, green and turquoise bursts out of a Tom Wilson artwork

The challenge with each painting is “knowing when to stop, that cut-off point”. “That’s one of those lessons I’m still learning. Don’t keep going back to it. Don’t be the ‘Tinker Man’, like Claudio Ranieri!” says Tom.

As for size, in the absence of a studio, in the confines of his kitchen, he tends to use A3 or A4. “But I’d love to be like Rothko, lobbing paint around a big studio!”

In the meantime, Tom’s rather more compact jazzy paintings at St Bede’s will be priced from £60 to £400. “But for those who can’t afford some of the artwork, there’s an alternative way to support the plight of the people in the Ukraine, by buying one of the T-shirts on sale,” he says. “They feature images of my art and very fine they look too.”

The banner for Tom Wilson’s exhibition at St Bede’s, York
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More Things To Do in York and beyond in the rave new world of bingo and festivals à gogo. List No. 96, courtesy of The Press

Wynne Evans: Vocal power amid the Pomp and Circumstance at tonight’s Castle Howard Proms

FROM Proms fireworks to rave bingo, prog-rock veterans to village-green art, Charles Hutchinson seeks variety for the diary.  

Pomp and circumstance concert of the week: Castle Howard Proms, Castle Howard, near York, this evening; gates open at 5pm 

OPERA star, insurance advert institution beyond compare and BBC Radio Wales presenter Wynne Evans returns to the Castle Howard Proms this weekend.

West End singer Marisha Wallace will be his fellow soloist at tonight’s classical concert, where the London Gala Orchestra will be conducted by Stephen Bell. Expect picnics, Prom classics, songs from the musicals, flag-waving favourites, a Spitfire flyover, laser displays and a firework finale. Box office: lphconcertsandevents.co.uk/events/castle-howard-proms-2022.

Life of Bryan: Roxy Magic pay tribute to the Ferry man

Tribute show of the week: Roxy Magic, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm

AHEAD of reunited art-rock legends Roxy Music playing Glasgow, Manchester and London in October on their 50th anniversary tour, here comes Roxy Magic’s tribute in York.

Led by Bryan Ferry doppelganger Kevin Hackett since 2004, the show lovingly recreates four decades of Roxy music, from art-school retro-futurism, to classic standards via sophisticated, adult-oriented rock. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Abba Symphonic: All the hits, with a bigger band, at Castle Howard

Does your mother know this is happening? Abba Symphonic, Castle Howard, near York, Sunday; gates open at 5pm

ROB Fowler and Sharon Sexton will be among the star performers from the West End production of Mamma Mia! at Sunday’s Abba Symphonic concert.

They will be backed by a full rock band, together with the Heart of England Orchestra, in a greatest hits concert conducted by Grammy Award winner Steve Sidwell. Irish singer-songwriter, performer, raconteur Jack Lukeman will be the support act. Again, take a picnic. Box office: lphconcertsandevents.co.uk/events/abba-symphonic-castle-howard/.

Sam Lee: Not-so-ordinary folk amid the chamber music programme at Welburn Manor. Picture: Andre Pattenden

Folk event of the week: Sam Lee, Songlines, at North York Moors Chamber Music Festival, Welburn Manor marquee, near Kirkbymoorside, Monday, 7pm

FOLK pioneer Sam Lee brings a new perspective to this summer’s North York Moors Chamber Music Festival when performing his Songlines set on Monday.

The festival is built around world-class classical musicians, performing repertoire on the theme of Soundscapes. This year, however, singer, song collector and conservationist Lee and his band will be broadening the focus after he met festival director Jamie Walton at the new Ayriel Studios, in Westerdale, near Whitby, late last year. Box office: 07722 038990 or northyorkmoorsfestival.com.

Spot the difference: The 1975 replace Rage Against The Machine as Leeds Festival headliners. Picture: Samuel Bradley

Last big gathering of the summer: Leeds Festival, Bramham Park, near Wetherby, August 26 to 28

OUT go Friday’s American headliners Rage Against The Machine (leg injury to frontman Zack de la Rocha), Italy’s 2021 Eurovision winners, Maneskin, and American rapper Jack Harlow (both preferring to play at MTV’s Video Music Awards ceremony in America instead). In come English indie combo The 1975, for their first gig in two years, and pop star Charli XCX on Friday and London rapper AJ Tracey on the Sunday.

Friday offers Halsey, Run The Jewels and Bastille; Saturday,  Dave, Megan Thee Stallion, Little Simz, Glass Animals and Joy Crookes; Sunday, Arctic Monkeys, Bring Me Horizons, Wolf Alice and Fontaines DC. Box office: leedsfestival.com.

Re-building Colosseum: Prog-rockers parade their latest line-up at The Crescent

Re-formed legends of the week: Colosseum, The Crescent, York, August 27; doors, 7.30pm

PROG rock giants Colosseum have reunited, fronted by legendary lead singer Chris “Out Of Time” Farlowe, who is joined by fellow long-time members Clem Clempson, on lead guitar, and Mark Clarke, on bass and vocals.

In the line-up too will be new recruits Nick Steed, keyboards, Kim Nishikawara, saxophones, and Malcolm Mortimore, drums, in a gig staged by TV’s Over, York promoters with a flair for the retro.

Colosseum date back to, if not Roman times, but still long-ago 1969, when debut album Those Who Are About To Die Salute You established their compound of rock, jazz and classical music. Box office: thecrescent.com.

Taking shape: Making pots at Fangfest in Fangfoss

Art, not Dracula: Fangfest, Fangfoss Festival of Practical Arts, Fangfoss, near Pocklington, September 3 and 4, 10am to 4pm

MORE than 20 jewellery designers, potters, glass artists, sculptors, felters, handbag makers, painters, photographers, illustrators, printmakers, candle makers, willow weavers and wood carvers are taking part in Fangfest on its return after a pandemic-enforced two-year hiatus.

Look out too for Forest Craft and Play’s drop-in craft activities; acoustic musicians; archery; classic cars; a scarecrow trail and the St Martin’s Church flower festival with the theme of Our Queen. Admission to this outdoor event is free.

John Bramwell: Heading to Ellerton Priory next month. Picture: Ian Percival

If you book for one low-key gig, make it: John Bramwell, Ellerton Priory, near York, September 24; doors, 7pm

FROM the team behind shows by Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys and The Beta Band’s Steve Mason in Stockton on the Forest Village Hall comes a “super-intimate” gig by I Am Kloot’s John Bramwell.

Ellerton Priory, should you be wondering, is the Parish Church of St Mary, a beautiful, small, 16th century church in the East Riding village of Ellerton, between York, Selby and Pocklington. Tickets are on sale via thecrescentyork.com.

Rave on! Welcome to the new age of bingo in Bongo’s Bingo at York Barbican

House music with a difference: Bongo’s Bingo, York Barbican, October 8; doors, 6pm; last entry, 7:30pm; first game of bingo, 8pm

MAKING its York debut this autumn in the shadow of the demolished Mecca Bingo, Bongo’s Bingo “rejuvenates a quintessentially quaint British pastime with an immersive live show featuring rave rounds, nostalgia-soaked revelry, dance-offs, audience participation and crazy prizes in a night of pure and unadulterated escapism”.

Looking for a full house, promoter Jonny Bongo says: “We’ve been waiting to come to York for a long time, so this is really special for us. We’ve heard the locals are really up for a party, so this is going to be a lot of fun.”

Magic and music, mischief and mayhem combine in this bingo rave experience. Box office: bongosbingo.co.uk.